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I've been completely happy with Astraweb. I pay $96 a year for unlimited and it's so worth it. Also I'd recommend using nzbmatrix.com as an indexing site and then upgrading to VIP. Retention is 1000 days and makes finding downloads so much easier. Then as mentioned earlier use SABnzbd+ to automatically download files to your computer.

If you aren't going to be downloading a lot then I probably wouldn't pay for unlimited. It would probably work out cheaper to buy a block from somewhere and use it sporatically. I'm probably 50/50 in recording TV and downloading so I definitely get my money in paying for unlimited.

I use Giganews and Newsleecher. Ive been looking for get away from GN.. its just too expensive. Maybe Ill take a look at usenetserver again. They were my first Usenet provider, then I went to Astraweb and Ive been with Giganews for years.

Me too. They keep raising their retention and have added some features such as personal VPN, and I think they're working on a DropBox or Mozy type service add-on, but, still.
I'm always too lazy to look around or to pull the trigger on somebody else.
I used to use Supernews way back when, but I forget why I switched over to GN.

I used to use Supernews way back when, but I forget why I switched over to GN.

Giganews bought Supernews awhile ago. With Supernews you get Giganews quality at cheaper prices. You can probably get Supernews for $9.99 a month on special. Supernews has a retention limit of 800 days. The lower retention is one of the reasons it's cheaper. If your happy with Giganews service then Supernews would a good choice.

I use Giganews and Newsleecher. Ive been looking for get away from GN.. its just too expensive.

Giganews bought Supernews awhile ago and they are cheaper at $9.99 a month. You would get the Giganews quality service for less money with Supernews. One of the differences is that Supernews has 800 days retention.

Ok, I know I'm paying way too much for easynews, but I like that they have a very well designed web front end, including search, PAR file viewing, auto-RAR decoding, etc.

Does AstraWeb or GigaNews offer a similar web front end, or are they strictly NNTP-based?

No they don't. No web based front ends. Giganews has released an usenet client that that allows searches, ect. but you would be paying even more then Easynews.There are several good and free usenet search engines.

MysterBin gives you the best of search technologies for binary newsgroups:

Search inside RAR archives and preview them before download
Refine your queries on size and type of content
Extended queries: car*, *car, -car
Automatic grouping of results belonging to the same group
Over 1001 days indexed and growing

There are stand alone usenet clients that have built-in search and will auto decode, repair and unpack RAR. There several (free) that will decode, repair, unpack. Paired with free usenet search engines it's very effective.

I'm grandfathered into a plan with Newsdemon where I have unlimited downloading for $9.99 a month and they can't raise the price (theoretically). I'll sometimes go a month or two without downloading from Usenet but I won't cancel b/c I don't want to give that up.

I also use Unison for Mac. I forgot about Newzbin. I'll use the built in search feature in Unison, which really is just a link to www.binsearch.info

I'm grandfathered into a plan with Newsdemon where I have unlimited downloading for $9.99 a month and they can't raise the price (theoretically). I'll sometimes go a month or two without downloading from Usenet but I won't cancel b/c I don't want to give that up.

I also use Unison for Mac. I forgot about Newzbin. I'll use the built in search feature in Unison, which really is just a link to www.binsearch.info

Sound like you're the perfect block account customer. $9.99 per month deals can be found quite frequently nowadays so it's not a factor to keep an account.

Anyone use nzbs.org? I started using them when Newzbin went down for a while and they have a RSS feed tie in to SABnzbd just like Newzbin does. Plus its free as long as can get in during one of the open registration periods.

Hate to bump this back up.. Ive officially left Giganews and need a new Usenet provider. Ive tried to sign up with UsenetServer but its been a train wreck and Im disgusted in dealing with them. Id like a service I can pay for yearly.. Astraweb seems to be my other option. I had them once before and they kind of stunk. Is anyone using them with any success now or have any other suggestions I should look at?

Hate to bump this back up.. Ive officially left Giganews and need a new Usenet provider. Ive tried to sign up with UsenetServer but its been a train wreck and Im disgusted in dealing with them. Id like a service I can pay for yearly.. Astraweb seems to be my other option. I had them once before and they kind of stunk. Is anyone using them with any success now or have any other suggestions I should look at?

I don't know how long ago you last tried Astraweb but for the last couple of years they have been getting good buzz. Their one of the few independent providers left. Their completion is good. They don't take down content because of DMCA requests. Users with 50m internet connections report maxing out their line speed with Astraweb. They have a $96 a year subscription special that's been running.

The only negative is customer service. They have been said to be slow to respond to emails. Poor communication with customers.

Although they don't have a yearly option, Usenetnow.net is a great service. They and Astraweb have the best completion and both don't remove content because of DMCA take down requests. Their customer service is fantastic and quick to respond. They go the extra mile to make sure their customers are satisfied. Their service is fast and reliable. I use and recommend them to friends and family.

I would urge you to stay away from Highwinds and it's resellers. Usenetserver, Newshosting, Thundernews, Newsdemon, ect. Highwinds take down content because of DMCA. They remove HBO shows, Xbox games, ect.

One reason may be cost. Their quite expensive. You can get unlimited usenet for $10 a month elsewhere.

Ding Ding Ding

Ive been a platinum account member for years and its just too expensive. Loved the service, the support was good but when everyone else is charging $10-15 a month and they're charging $30, its a tough pill to keep swallowing.

I canceled a few weeks ago, my time just didnt run out until the 28th. Cant say a thing bad about Giganews other than they're pricey. Id like to say you get what you pay for but their Usenet client is just "okay" and I dont really use the VPN access.

Ive been a platinum account member for years and its just too expensive. Loved the service, the support was good but when everyone else is charging $10-15 a month and they're charging $30, its a tough pill to keep swallowing.

I canceled a few weeks ago, my time just didnt run out until the 28th. Cant say a thing bad about Giganews other than they're pricey. Id like to say you get what you pay for but their Usenet client is just "okay" and I dont really use the VPN access.

Have you considered using 'Supernews'. It's owned by Giganews and you can get it for $9.99 a month. It's basically Giganews but with retention limited to 800 days. No VPN or any of the bells and whistles. If you can live with 800 days retention, it might be something to consider.

Ive been a platinum account member for years and its just too expensive. Loved the service, the support was good but when everyone else is charging $10-15 a month and they're charging $30, its a tough pill to keep swallowing.

I canceled a few weeks ago, my time just didnt run out until the 28th. Cant say a thing bad about Giganews other than they're pricey. Id like to say you get what you pay for but their Usenet client is just "okay" and I dont really use the VPN access.

I'm currently with Giganews, pay $12.99 for a "Silver" account and am allowed 58 GB per month. (I never, ever get close to that. It may as well be unlimited, as far as my usage pattern is concerned.) I've been with them for a while so I'm grandfathered in at this price and have earned a little referral credit, I suppose.

I'm happy enough with them that I've never considered switching. I've also never come across some file I hoped to download only to learn it was taken down by a DMCA request.

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Ive tried to sign up with UsenetServer but its been a train wreck and Im disgusted in dealing with them. Id like a service I can pay for yearly..

What was the problem? I've been with UNS for probably two years now and haven't had any major problems. There has been an occasional billing hiccup with them in that the system locked me out for an hour or two but an email resolved that issue quickly.

The $95 yearly price is good and they max out my connection (1.4MB/sec) with 10 threads. Retention is OK. Anything within ~600 days is pretty solid. Anything from ~700-1000 days is OK if it comes with a decent amount of PAR2 files as I find that every file tends to be missing one or two parts.